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Dxing on Cape Cod

Carltheradioguy

Carltheradioguy

Ive seen some interesting catches on the Cape. What are some dxing catches on any form of radio or TV? Cape cod has a lot of local signals as well.
 
There are a lot of DXers who have gone to Cape Cod. Full ocean view = amazing DX. Trans-atlantic stations are audible almost every night in the winter from Cape Cod on MW, Cuba is strong, and with a good antenna, Venezuela and Colombia. I'll share some links later but Cape Cod is an excellent spot.

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
There are a lot of DXers who have gone to Cape Cod. Full ocean view = amazing DX. Trans-atlantic stations are audible almost every night in the winter from Cape Cod on MW, Cuba is strong, and with a good antenna, Venezuela and Colombia. I'll share some links later but Cape Cod is an excellent spot.

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

While Cape Cod is a great DX spot, it certainly does not equal in results the Newfoundland DXpeditions.

But to amplify based on 56 years in the NRC, here is what can be heard on a good night with a Beverage antenna:

- Cuba is a terrible pest, blocking a lot of possible reception of Chile, Perú and Ecuador.
- The Venezuelans and Colombians are very easy to catch, with the high band 1 kw stations often heard when propagation is right..
- With a Beverage aimed at the South Atlantic, you get Equatorial Africa, and exotics like Namibia. You also get loads of Brazilians as daylight starts to block African paths; many of the 100 watt local service Brazilians have been heard. When the Beverage characteristics null domestics, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay are very possible.
- Way in the past when more stations were silent at night, Hawaii was heard on the Cape. Because Asia and Oceania are on 9 kHz separation, New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific Islands as well as occasional Japanese and Koreans can be heard.

The key issues on the Cape are being separated from saturation level local signals, relatively low noise levels, and proximity to the ocean with flat, dune areas to put up Beverage antennas.
 
crainbebo said:
There are a lot of DXers who have gone to Cape Cod. Full ocean view = amazing DX. Trans-atlantic stations are audible almost every night in the winter from Cape Cod on MW, Cuba is strong, and with a good antenna, Venezuela and Colombia. I'll share some links later but Cape Cod is an excellent spot.

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

Very cool, too bad I don't go in the Winter. During the summer, i've done quite well on FM.
 
I was on Cape Cod for a business conference in the summer of 1996. I had to go to nighttime dinners and other functions, so I never got to DX at night. However, there were several daytime events that I didn't have to attend, so I was able to sneak away for a few short sessions. My memory of the Mid-cape location on the Atlantic side was that the FM band was completely alive...with the Boston signals making the hop easily. AM brought in NYC and Long Island along with numerous other coastal stations from points in between. SW produced several daytime signals on 49 meters. Most notably a fair-good CHNX with top 40 oldies. 500 watts IIRC.
 
cyberdad said:
I was on Cape Cod for a business conference in the summer of 1996. I had to go to nighttime dinners and other functions, so I never got to DX at night. However, there were several daytime events that I didn't have to attend, so I was able to sneak away for a few short sessions. My memory of the Mid-cape location on the Atlantic side was that the FM band was completely alive...with the Boston signals making the hop easily. AM brought in NYC and Long Island along with numerous other coastal stations from points in between. SW produced several daytime signals on 49 meters. Most notably a fair-good CHNX with top 40 oldies. 500 watts IIRC.
Click to expand...
Haha funny cause I was born summer of 96
On to the topic, again I had very similar results. Boston AM comes in like its next door, so does providence. NYC came in solid for me as well. Since 1996, a lot more FM stations have filled cape cod and oh yeah on AM and fm I got a lot of Maine and coastal new Hampshire signals. I remember listening to 970 WZAN out of Portland because the NASCAR race was on and it wasn't booming in but was coming in solidly on my yacht boy. This was all the way from sandwich region to wellfleet.
 
crainbebo said:
This DXer is using a Perseus SDR and two SuperLoop antennas. Look at all of the trans-Atlantic and even South America logs!
Click to expand...

"Even" South America is a bit exaggerated. Most of those stations are relatively average catches from the general area of the Northeast. The 760 Colombian, for example, is widely heard on auroral evenings under WJR even as close in as Cleveland and Chicago, using any kind of directional antenna. Being on the Cape makes it a bit easier, but those are not, per se, really tough catches... just an illustration of how being able to put a 90º null on a domestic allows these stations to be received all in one DX session rather than over a period of time.
 
Carltheradioguy said:
Haha funny cause I was born summer of 96. I remember listening to 970 WZAN out of Portland because the NASCAR race was on and it wasn't booming in but was coming in solidly on my yacht boy. .
Click to expand...

The winter before last when the Global Tuners Northern Ireland online receiver was up and running for a long-lasting stretch, WZAN was something of a regular-- far more reliable than WBZ which nulls it's ocean-bound signal.
 
I remember catching 1600 WUNR Boston a number of times on the old Northern Ireland node. My best catch however was 1320 WILS Lansing, MI. 1900 watts!
 
I was on Cape Cod quite a long time ago, but I didn't get the chance to DX at night. I do remember WBZ & the rest of the Boston AMs were strong & most of the FMs came in too.
Many of the NYC blowtorches were also fairly strong during the day, but when you got off the cape and into Rhode island many of the NYC stations disappeared even though I was closer to them.
 
boombox4 said:
I'm sure Newfoundland has the benefit of being located about 1000 miles closer to Europe than the Cape Cod and the rest of the Northeastern US.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't auroral conditions spoil the party from time to time on Newfoundland? Maybe not, given that it's been the site of DXpeditions for as long as I can remember.
 
boombox4 said:
I'm sure Newfoundland has the benefit of being located about 1000 miles closer to Europe than the Cape Cod and the rest of the Northeastern US.
Click to expand...

Actually, Newfoundland is best for the deep South Americans and sub-Saharan Africans. It's main advantage for Europe is a little more distance from the bulk of US and Canadian domestics. It also has some of the best terrain for Beverage antennas.
 
radioman148 said:
I was on Cape Cod quite a long time ago, but I didn't get the chance to DX at night. I do remember WBZ & the rest of the Boston AMs were strong & most of the FMs came in too.
Many of the NYC blowtorches were also fairly strong during the day, but when you got off the cape and into Rhode island many of the NYC stations disappeared even though I was closer to them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i've noticed that too. Like in Coastal Connecticut it comes in strong but the closer I get to hartford the weaker and weaker they get.
 
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